


the bottom's gonna drop out from under our feet

by chatsdelune (greymooses)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: "platonic" lmao, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Yoon Jeonghan, POV Kim Mingyu, Platonic Cuddling, Sharing a Bed, Time Skips, metaphors about boats, model!mingyu, there's no point to any of this tbh, verkwan mentioned shock and awe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29165034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greymooses/pseuds/chatsdelune
Summary: mingyu doesn't fall in love at first sight, regardless of what jeonghan and soonyoung say. hedoestend to crush hard, though, and his new roommate is no exception, apparently.
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Lee Seokmin | DK
Comments: 12
Kudos: 82





	the bottom's gonna drop out from under our feet

**Author's Note:**

> helloooo i had brain worms. this was supposed to just be the hair dyeing thing bc of an extra prompt that came up during my 30 days series and seokmin's [blue streaked l&r hair](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b8/6e/48/b86e481a979ed79107844acc120687d9.jpg) and then. i'm me. idk. it turned into this thing.
> 
> all the love as usual to [triviaeuphoria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/triviaeuphoria/) for listening to me bitch about this fic for like two weeks and also the [title song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9Ep8cwpfM8) suggestion.
> 
> reread but i'm sure i missed something bc i always do so i'm sorry in advance.

mingyu doesn't fall in love at first sight, regardless of what jeonghan and soonyoung say. he _does_ tend to crush hard, though, and his new roommate is no exception, apparently.

vernon sent him mingyu's way — his soon-to-be live-in boyfriend's soon-to-be ex-roommate. he showed up in rumpled pajamas at two in the afternoon, looked very cute anyway, pointed a very long finger at mingyu, and said something that he forgot the second it left seokmin's mouth. he tried to avoid staring, but he really couldn't help it. his face is interesting.

that was a week ago. he's moving in today — now, more specifically, as mingyu eats lunch and watches him carry boxes inside. they're less problematic than the small bookshelf he hauled in by himself, but still.

he declined help. mingyu was hungry.

he's coming down the stairs from his new bedroom when he decides to fawn over the apartment again. "i can't believe i get to live here. have you _seen_ your skylights? the _beams?_ " mingyu smirks at him. he spent a lot of time and effort hunting down the perfect place. he could afford to live alone, but he hates being lonely, and he has no use for the loft. "of course you have, it's your apartment. why don't you use the bedroom upstairs yourself?"

"ah, sleepy mingyu and stairs don't really mix."

"i'll keep that in mind."

mingyu nearly chokes, but seokmin doesn't look like he was trying to be suggestive, he's just _standing there,_ not even looking in mingyu's direction because he's focused on rolling his already short sleeves up to his shoulders.

"are you sure you don't need any help?" mingyu asks, mostly because he's not sure how much more of this he can take today.

"i only have two more, but they're both books. if you really don't mind—"

mingyu moves to stand, says, "i offered, didn't i?"

"okay, thanks."

so yeah, he crushes hard, but it never amounts to anything serious. usually goes away soon enough. not really of concern.

***

he gets home from a shoot later than he expected to. it was a rare afternoon one anyway, then there were issues with equipment that pushed it until after eight. he's tired and hungry and his makeup is still caked on his face. he's maybe mildly annoyed with the world, which makes it all the more frustrating when he nearly trips over a box in the hall.

it belongs to a pile. the pile undoubtedly belongs to seokmin.

if he's learned anything about his roommate in the last few months, it's that he stress-shops. he can't do anything useful like stress-bake or stress-cook or stress-clean. instead, he buys a ton of shit he doesn't need online.

most of the time, it's fine. mingyu is kind of picky about housework anyway, and sometimes seokmin leaves small gifts on his bed, like a cat bringing him a mouse. never anything crazy — a book he mentioned wanting to read; a shirt or some sweatpants, because mingyu can never own enough; a box of his favorite snacks; socks with dogs on them — but it's nice. and that's something else he's learned: seokmin is incredibly kind.

but some days, he really just wants the path to his door to be unobstructed.

he gets everything inside anyway and deposits the pile at the bottom of the stairs. normally, he'd call up to say hi, but he skips it today and heads directly for his room instead.

  
  
seokmin is downstairs by the time mingyu has washed all the makeup off his face and the product out of his hair. the packages are gone and he's at the table with his laptop open in front of him. mingyu has seen him in worse shape, but he clearly hasn't showered today and his posture is abysmal. he can't bring himself to be annoyed anymore. he needs dinner, and it looks like seokmin does, too.

he waits for mingyu to get close before he mumbles, "thanks for bringing my stuff in."

mingyu hums in acknowledgement. he looks like he could use a hug, in all honesty, but where mingyu is friendly with strangers, seokmin is more reserved. they're hardly strangers, but still. he's seen him with friends mingyu doesn't know and he's much clingier, so he's waiting for him to make the first move before he exposes his full koala side.

"did you eat?" he asks instead.

"not yet."

"order us some pizza? i don't have anything scheduled for over a week and i miss carbs. you can use my card."

"you sure?" he's basically pouting at this point.

"i'm sure," mingyu confirms. seokmin looks down to his laptop screen again, hopefully to place an order. mingyu heads to his room for his wallet. once he's back in the kitchen and food is taken care of, he pounces. "do you want to talk about it?"

seokmin waves his hand. tries. it's more like a flop. "it's nothing. exams."

a third thing he's learned: seokmin puts a seemingly infinite amount of pressure on himself.

"i don't think shopping is going to help you with that one."

seokmin scoffs. "easy for you to say, you're pretty _and_ smart."

"i'll help you study, if you want," mingyu offers. he sets the "pretty" comment somewhere in the corner of his mind to pull out when he needs an ego boost, though the word is one he might use for seokmin rather than himself.

his roommate bites his lip and frowns. "if you're not too tired?"

"i am, but i can give you an hour or two. food will help," mingyu says as he pulls water from the fridge and puts it down in front of him. "drink that. being dehydrated doesn't do your brain any favors."

seokmin drinks half of it, staring at him the entire time, like a kid who wants him to know he's doing what was asked of him but he's _not_ happy about it. he's gotten better at accepting mingyu's assistance when he offers it rather than metaphorically slamming his head against a wall until something breaks, but he still whines. it's tiring, but cute.

maybe his tiny crush never quite went away.

***

somewhere along the line, after nights spent in their rooms turned into watching tv on opposite ends of the sofa, and then seokmin making a habit of falling asleep with his legs in mingyu's lap, he decides he's getting even. this friendship is currently a one-way street. he likes putting his feet in laps, too.

seokmin is getting popcorn. mingyu uses the opportunity to take up as much of the couch as possible. he figures seokmin will lift his legs and sit at the other end and have no choice but to let mingyu rest his feet on him. which is what happens, but he sits there eating and humming and starting the next episode of the show they've been watching and doesn't even _say_ anything. no acknowledgement of the situation at all. doesn't rest his arms on mingyu's legs. nothing.

mingyu huffs and pulls his legs away, sits up so he can at least get to the popcorn. seokmin _still_ doesn't say anything, he just puts the bowl between them.

if he notices mingyu sulking, he doesn't say anything about that either. and it's a stupid thing to sulk about, he and seokmin get along so well, but what's the point of having a single roommate he gets along with if he can't give and receive cuddles when he wants to? it's maddening.

the popcorn disappears eventually. mingyu hasn't gotten any attention. he's about to excuse himself to go to bed, because moping in private sounds nice, but seokmin leans against his side and swings his own legs up onto the couch.

"there's room for both of us," he mumbles over the tv. "lie down."

mingyu definitely doesn't need to be told twice. seokmin slides behind him and slips an arm under mingyu's neck so it's not crushed between them, then wraps the other one around his waist. he wriggles his feet around one of mingyu's ankles, spreads his palm out on mingyu's stomach, and sighs.

"you can just ask, next time," he says, close enough to mingyu's ear to make him shiver a little.

and okay, yeah, maybe that pesky crush is still a problem sometimes. he never anticipated _this._ he relaxes into it anyway, because whatever. it's nice. "hope you know you just opened pandora's box."

"you think cuddling with me is a curse?"

"for you, maybe. i'm a very good cuddler."

seokmin snorts and tightens his arm around mingyu's waist. "we'll see."

it gets late, after that. mingyu _should_ move. he knows seokmin has class in the morning. but they stay put, bickering about the show because seokmin trusts the very obvious bad guy and he's _wrong._ seokmin laughs through his own arguments like he knows they're bullshit, but he doesn't try to move either.

mingyu finally points out the time when he realizes his eyelids are shutting on their own.

seokmin reaches over him to get his phone — even though it probably would've been easier to ask mingyu to pass it to him — and sighs when he checks his lockscreen. "well, at least it's a short day and i can nap when i get home." he presses his lips to the top of mingyu's head and taps him on the hip. "up, giant. you should sleep, too."

he regrets saying anything the second he sits up and no longer has warmth pressed against his back, but he'd feel worse if they fell asleep and seokmin missed class because of him. seokmin brings the popcorn bowl to the kitchen and mingyu shuffles to his door.

"more tomorrow?" he asks before he enters.

seokmin stops at the base of the stairs. "tv or cuddling?"

"i don't know, both." mingyu sort of wants to invite him to sleep in his bed so they can keep doing the latter — it doesn't have to mean anything — but some tiny part of his brain whispers that it's a bad idea.

"sure," he replies immediately.

"tv or cuddling?"

seokmin shrugs. "good night, mingyu."

  
  
he's used to waking up early whether he wants to or not — it's an occupational hazard. seokmin should've been awake ten minutes ago. mingyu considered going upstairs, but decided against it when his foot was on the first step. they have an unspoken rule about knocking on each other's doors when they're in their rooms: don't, unless something is on fire. this is especially important for seokmin, mingyu knows. if he feels like being around people, he will be. but it means mingyu is fidgeting in the kitchen for ten minutes until he hears footsteps above him.

it's only another ten before seokmin comes down. his hair is poking out from under a beanie, undoubtedly tugged on over a mess of curls he didn't have time to straighten. mingyu's almost positive he pulled a hoodie over the same shirt he was wearing last night.

he's adorable. it makes no sense. he's also obviously in a hurry.

"hi, mingyu. bye, mingyu."

"breakfast."

"no time."

he expected that, but breakfast is _important._ the heathen never ate it before he moved in. mingyu makes sure he eats _something_ now, at least, and he's not about to give in today. he holds out a travel mug of coffee and a piece of toast as seokmin passes by the table. he falters for a moment, maybe confused. unclear.

mingyu tries to sound as intimidating as possible. "don't argue, you're running late. just take the damn toast and coffee."

seokmin finally smirks. "you don't scare me," he says as he steps towards mingyu to grab them. "i've seen you cry during children's movies."

"okay, counting inside out isn't fair," mingyu whines.

"and scream at a tiny spider," he adds.

"you screamed, too."

seokmin grins, leans down quickly to kiss mingyu on the top of the head, straightens, and says, "thanks for this," before stuffing the corner of the toast between his teeth and disappearing out the door.

and it's not that seokmin isn't normally affectionate with mingyu after six months of living together and becoming close, or that mingyu doesn't appreciate affection from his friends that might be considered outside the realm of platonic — drunk soonyoung is notorious for trying to kiss him and jeonghan only cheers him on — but usually it's clinging to his arm excitedly when he's cooking, or an overdramatic kiss on the cheek when he finds his laundry folded outside his door. two random kisses on the head in twelve hours is not normal for them, and it's fucking with him. clearly.

but it shouldn't be, he decides. this is like the spooning thing. it doesn't mean anything. 

  
  
mingyu is reading on the couch a few hours later when he hears a key in the lock. seokmin stumbles in, rinses the coffee mug that mingyu handed him on his way out the door, and goes straight up to his room without saying a word. mingyu hears his shower turn on and tries to not think about it. or admit that he has to try.

when he comes downstairs again, it's in clean track pants and a shirt with sleeves that cover his hands. he hasn't bothered to dry his hair properly — a clear sign he's tired — so it looks especially fluffy. mingyu doesn't understand why he hates it so much. he collapses on the couch, eyes closed, and mumbles, "thanks for cleaning my bathroom."

"i hope you didn't come down here just for that," mingyu worries. he doesn't clean seokmin's room, no matter how much he wants to, but the idea of a dirty bathroom makes him especially twitchy. seokmin agreed to let him regularly clean it forever ago. "you should rest. hell, i should rest," he sighs. he closes the book and sets it on the side table.

seokmin rolls his head to the side and opens his eyes. "i did, and i should, and you definitely should. do you like the book?"

mingyu leans his head back to mirror his position. "yeah. thank you."

seokmin nods and pushes himself up. he stands in front of mingyu and holds a hand out. "come on. nap time."

mingyu lets him haul him off the couch, but seokmin doesn't drop his hand. he leads him to his door instead, and opens it, and climbs into mingyu's bed, and mingyu's brain grinds to a halt.

seokmin sighs. "get in here or kick me out but class sucked and i don't want to talk about it. i just…" he trails off. when he's tired, his voice gets so much quieter and his words run together and it makes mingyu so fucking soft. he could ask for almost anything and he would agree without question. so he shuts his door and draws his curtains closed and slides into his bed. seokmin reaches behind himself and drags mingyu's arm over his chest. "doesn't feel like pandora's box."

mingyu does what seokmin did to him the night before — slips an arm under his neck and presses himself flush against his back — because that was a challenge, obviously.

and the thing is, maybe the pandora's box comment was a joke, but mingyu's pretty sure he screwed himself over and created a self-fulfilling prophecy, because the idea of not being able to do this all the time or the risk of seokmin finding someone else he'd rather do it with are both things that kind of make him feel like he can't breathe. so yeah, he feels pretty damn cursed.

seokmin plays with his fingers where he laid his hand on the bed. mingyu feels more than hears him sigh again. "thanks."

"if you want to talk about it—"

"i know," he interrupts. he gives up on poking at mingyu's fingers and weaves his own in between them instead. "maybe later."

maybe later.

yeah.

***

mingyu manages to keep a lid on things for a few weeks despite seokmin falling asleep in his bed more than once. he'll whine that he's too tired to go all the way upstairs, or that it's too cold, or sometimes be obviously down about something and not ready to talk and mingyu will lead him in without a word.

he started leaving a change of clothes for seokmin in his closet, for those nights.

because seokmin is his friend. and seokmin is clingy with all of his friends, he just happens to live with mingyu. and yeah, mingyu might like him or whatever, but he'd do the same for jeonghan or soonyoung, probably.

jeonghan laughs at him when he says as much while he's touching up mingyu's makeup. "you made soonyoung sleep on the floor when he was drunk at your birthday party two years ago. you weren't even using the bed at the time."

"soonyoung had a boyfriend."

"i'm well aware. so if seokmin got a boyfriend, you'd be fine with making him sleep on the floor?"

"seokmin has a bedroom."

jeonghan sighs and nudges mingyu's head back. "i haven't even met him and i already know you're being an idiot, but you should bring him to the club on saturday so i can see this shit for myself."

it sounds like a terrible idea, frankly. he's seen seokmin tipsy exactly once. he danced around the kitchen singing into a broomstick. it was kind of adorable.

"i'll ask him."

"great." jeonghan taps him on the shoulder. "we're done. go forth and look hot for the camera," he says, entirely nonchalant. it's how he conveys affection.

"always do," mingyu replies. "thanks."

  
  
seokmin is in the kitchen.

mingyu is so ready to shower, and maybe read until he gets hungry enough for some dinner, but his roommate is _there_ when he opens the door. with a steaming pot of something on the stove, slicing tofu into cubes. "who are you and what have you done with my seokmin?"

he's looking down, but mingyu sees his face scrunch up anyway. "just because i let you cook doesn't mean i don't know how. i did live away from home before i moved in with you."

"i know. i never thought i'd see it, though."

"who says you're seeing it now? maybe you're dreaming."

"you think i'd dream about you cooking?"

"mm. i don't know what goes on in your head."

"puppies," mingyu jokes. "twenty-four hours a day."

seokmin snorts. "go shower. your hair looks terrible."

he sighs wistfully. "you always know exactly what to say."

"someone has to check your ego after photographers drool all over you for hours."

"don't forget the stylists and assistants," mingyu adds. he reaches for a cube of tofu and seokmin slaps his hand away.

"of course."

mingyu wants to say that none of them matter, but. "jeonghan is going to be at the club on saturday to play some freaky sex game with soonyoung. he invited us to join him."

seokmin raises his eyebrows. "to play his freaky sex game?"

"god, i hope not."

"sounds fun."

mingyu has talked about jeonghan plenty, but seokmin has never technically met him. he's still not entirely positive it's a good idea — jeonghan could eat someone alive if he wanted to and seokmin is so _nice_ — but he's _usually_ able to control himself. especially if he has soonyoung to flirt with.

"cool," mingyu says. he knocks his knuckles on the counter and retreats to his room before he does something stupid, like kiss seokmin on the cheek or squeeze the life out of him or god only knows what other treacherous thing his brain can come up with.

***

jeonghan squints at him when he approaches the bar from the dance floor. seokmin is still there, dancing in the corner, thankfully not being accosted by anyone. mingyu keeps an eye on him anyway, in case someone decides to get brave.

"you're being an idiot."

"that's all you have to say?"

"i never promised i'd say anything at all. consider that a gift."

"he—"

"no," jeonghan interrupts. he holds up a finger to get soonyoung's attention as he says, "i don't care what he does with his friends. you didn't see him dancing with you. i, unfortunately, did."

and okay, seokmin is maybe a little drunk. they've been there for an hour. mingyu is convinced jeonghan told soonyoung to mix his drinks a bit stronger than usual. and sure, they were dancing, but it wasn't like they were being _that_ inappropriate. it's a club. 

soonyoung comes over and leans his elbows on the bar, asks, "refill, gorgeous?" in a low voice.

"and tequila for my friend."

"coming up."

mingyu sighs, loudly, hoping to pull jeonghan's attention away from soonyoung's ass. when he has it, he argues. "i've done the same thing with _you,_ with soonyoung around. i've been in far more compromising positions for work."

"that's great, but irrelevant. i already knew you're in love with him. the question you needed an outsider to answer was is he in love with you."

"i'm not—"

"you are," jeonghan cuts him off again as their drinks are passed across the bar. he hands the shot to mingyu and nods in the direction of the floor. "he's got trouble headed his way."

"fuck," mingyu mutters. for a handful of reasons, really. he tosses the shot back, begrudgingly thanks jeonghan, and goes back into the crowd.

he finds a tiny weasel in tight pants trying to dance with seokmin and kind of wants to dropkick the guy out of the solar system. thankfully, he doesn't have to — seokmin spots him and dodges the guy in favor of hanging off his neck. mingyu brings his arms protectively around seokmin's back and glares at the weasel as he slinks away.

 _he's drunk_ plays on an endless loop in his head.

when he speaks, though, it's surprisingly coherent. a little bit pouty, and loudly whispered in his ear. "can we go home?"

he tips his head to rest against seokmin's and nods. seokmin kisses his neck — _he's drunk, he's drunk, he's drunk_ — and leans his head on his shoulder. mingyu wonders, in light of what jeonghan said, if any of this is an act, but he can't imagine seokmin ever thinking to be that manipulative.

mingyu unwinds seokmin's arms and takes his hand to make sure he doesn't get lost on the way off the dance floor. they swing by the bar to say bye to jeonghan and soonyoung; jeonghan gives him a knowing look that he tries to ignore. he's got other shit to worry about right now.

  
  
he whines about going upstairs to his room, when they get home.

mingyu figures it's safer to let seokmin sleep with him, anyway.

***

a week after the club incident, seokmin is being weird.

mingyu woke up the next morning to an empty bed. seokmin has been spending most of his time upstairs, and all of his nights. he's quiet if they eat together. honestly, mingyu misses him. a lot. it serves him well during his current early morning shoot, at least. he doesn't even have to try that hard to look crestfallen and broody.

the one silver lining to the day is that jeonghan isn't his makeup artist, so he doesn't have to deal with a lecture. or a disgustingly detailed account of the sex the strangers role play with soonyoung netted him. he'd take that if it meant seokmin would stop avoiding him, though.

he does so well that they let him go early.

  
  
the last thing he expected to find at home was seokmin at the kitchen table with a mirror in front of him, brush in hand, and the smell of hair bleach permeating the entire apartment.

all he says when he hears the door is, "hey."

"you— what are you doing?" mingyu asks as he gets closer, trying to avoid _freaking the fuck out_ because he hasn't even covered the floor underneath the chair.

"i was thinking it would be fun to put some blue in my hair."

"you didn't think to ask me to help? you know i've had my hair dyed dozens of times."

seokmin shrugs. "it's not exactly rocket science."

"no, but it _is_ messy, and i like our floor. you should be using foil for sections, too, so it doesn't bleach around—"

"you really want to do it, don't you?"

"spend a couple of hours bleaching and dyeing your hair after a week of barely seeing you? yes," mingyu replies, before he realizes what he's saying. "but also _the floor,_ " he adds. a lame attempt to neutralize the potential awkwardness he potentially created.

seokmin doesn't react, just agrees to let him help.

so yeah, he's being weird.

the process is easy once mingyu has an old towel draped around the chair. he rips a section of foil off the roll, showing seokmin the size so he can get more ready. they don't really talk as mingyu applies the bleach, using strips of foil as barriers for shallow sections and wrapping the foil securely around each one he finishes. he does hum, though, and sometimes seokmin joins in.

they wait thirty minutes for the bleach to work, seokmin poking at his laptop while mingyu reads, and then do it all over again with color.

"this has to sit longer," mingyu tells him, "but it shouldn't drip if you don't want to stay at the table."

"so you have time to shower?"

"you're way too interested in my showering schedule for someone i've seen go three days without one."

"i don't like when your hair is all crunchy," seokmin complains. "it looks wrong."

and, well, he doesn't really know what to do with that, so he clears his throat and says, "it needs like an hour," and walks away. he maybe bangs his head against the wall of his shower once or twice, because he's an _idiot_ for maybe letting himself fall in love with seokmin, god.

  
  
seokmin comes downstairs an hour later and lands on the couch. mingyu sent him to rinse his hair out for the last time, but evidently he decided it dry it, too. he has light blue highlights scattered in the front half of it and mingyu knows this was the intention — he did an excellent job, honestly — but he's kind of having a difficult time remembering why he hasn't told seokmin that he's the cutest, sexiest human to ever exist.

he's wearing one of mingyu's old t-shirts, too. he doesn't even know how he got it. christ.

"holy shit," he mutters. it's all he can say.

"good or bad?" seokmin asks.

it's so sincere, like he's actually worried he could ever look bad, and mingyu might spontaneously combust. maybe. "i think it's nice, but it's not my hair."

"i still can't tell if that means you like it or not."

"do you?" mingyu asks. "because that's all that matters."

"yeah, i do, but you still haven't answered me."

it'd be great if they were talking about more than hair, mingyu thinks.

"it's hot and i want to pull it. is that better?"

seokmin laughs. "yeah, thanks, but never say that again."

there's a pause that mingyu is aware is dragging on for way too long, but his mouth refuses to form words. he doesn't want to talk about seokmin's hair. he wants to talk about why he's been avoiding him for a week. eventually he says, "i'm glad you like it." because his brain is useless.

seokmin turns to the side. "about this week…" — 

mingyu immediately assumes the worst. he met someone. he's moving out. he watched hours of porn and decided he's straight. he believes 5G towers cause upper respiratory infections. he accidentally ordered a puppy.

— "i'm really sorry for ghosting you in our apartment."

mingyu lets air back into his lungs. "sometimes humans need space. i get it."

he looks down, fingers messing with the cuff of his pants. "i was an idiot at the club."

"you really weren't."

"i was supposed to be meeting your friends."

"technically you _did,_ " mingyu says, smirking. he can see seokmin's frown crack at the edges. "but it wasn't a one-time offer either. they exist on a daily basis. and they're more embarrassing than you could ever be, trust me."

seokmin lifts his chin and stares at him and mingyu is so incredibly fucked. it would be so easy to kiss him, or at least say something. probably say something, in the interest of respecting the few boundaries they still have, because he suspects, but he doesn't know.

he puts a hand over seokmin's instead and smiles softly. "it's fine, i swear. i'm just glad you didn't stress-buy a puppy or something."

"no stress puppies. got it."

"i mean, at least not until w— you have a yard, probably."

seokmin's expression doesn't change, so mingyu has no idea if he caught it or just didn't care. truthfully, he's getting tired of wondering exactly how oblivious his roommate is. his hand is still resting on top of seokmin's and he's still fiddling with his pants and doesn't seem to care that moving his fingers makes mingyu's shift over the back of his hand.

a sailboat on the waves. maybe the titanic before it crashed.

"when's your next shoot?" seokmin asks quietly. calmly.

"not until next week."

his eyes widen slightly. "pizza?"

"sure."

seokmin pulls his hand away and takes his phone out of his pocket to order. mingyu leans back and wonders what the hell he's supposed to do.

  
  
he's right on the edge of sleep when his phone chirps. the only people who can circumvent his do not disturb are his mom, sister, jeonghan, soonyoung, and seokmin. he sighs and feels around until he finds it on his bedside table. 

the text is from seokmin. one line: _can i come in?_

everything went back to normal after their conversation. or mostly everything. mingyu stole a piece of seokmin's pepperoni, not because he wanted it but because he missed seeing his stupid shocked face. they watched a movie, but seokmin stayed on the opposite side of the couch. no feet in laps. no curling up beside or behind him.

"it's unlocked," he groans, hopefully loud enough to be heard. he has no idea where seokmin is, but he doesn't feel like typing.

evidently, he was nearby, because the door cracks open a handful of seconds later. he doesn't say anything, just shuts the door behind himself and navigates through the darkness to mingyu's bed. it's impressive — mingyu can't even pull it off and it's his room.

he doesn't really think about it, just rolls onto his side as permission for seokmin to slide in behind him. they've done it so much that it's automatic: the way mingyu lifts his arm enough for seokmin to wrap his around his chest and lays his own over it; their feet tangling together; seokmin's hips lining up with his; his head nearly on mingyu's pillow instead of his own.

he hears a faint sigh, then registers a pressing of lips against the nape of his neck. that's normal, too — or expected. mingyu's pretty sure, at this point, that it's not normal, even for seokmin. drunk soonyoung, sure, but not his roommate, not like this. definitely not when he turns his head just enough to carefully press them against mingyu's shoulder, too, leaving warmth in his wake. his breathing is quick and shallow, like he's terrified he's done something catastrophic.

titanic. iceberg.

mingyu squeezes his hand and slowly shifts onto his back, seokmin moving just enough to give him room, propping himself up on an elbow. he won't look at him, but he doesn't pull away, either. mingyu reaches across his chest and runs his thumb across the mole on seokmin's cheek. it's so, so quiet.

"do you remember the first time i helped you study?" he asks. it comes out a little broken. he'd blame sleep if he'd ever actually gotten any.

"yeah."

"you said i'm pretty _and_ smart, and all i remember thinking is that pretty would better describe you."

seokmin locks eyes with him then, and pouts. "but not smart?"

"i never said that. that's what you choose to focus on right now?"

seokmin shrugs.

mingyu lowers his arm and rests it across his chest, too. he bites his lip and smirks when he sees seokmin's eyes follow the movement. "seokmin. kiss me or don't, but i'd like to sleep at some point."

he's surprised but after a moment he picks the first option, apparently, and lowers himself slowly, dropping his hand from his head to mingyu's pillow. mingyu can feel him there, even with his eyes shut, hovering so closely. he tries to tell himself to wait, he really does, but it only takes the slightest movement to bring them together. he hears seokmin draw a sharp inhale, and the shaky exhale as mingyu lets his hands move up his arms so he can steer seokmin's upper body to rest on top of him. he uses mingyu's moment of distraction as an opportunity to deepen the kiss, and then whines like he wasn't the one responsible.

he's ridiculous. and incredible. and mingyu supposes the iceberg has been very much averted.

  
  
"hey, should we go on a date?" seokmin asks. his voice reverberates in his chest, under mingyu's ear.

mingyu hums. "we could."

"isn't that what people usually do?"

"i don't think we've done anything the way people usually do."

"true," he concedes. "how tired are you?"

mingyu groans. seokmin is dragging his fingers through his hair and he could fall asleep so easily. "too tired for more sex."

"oh, god, no. no offense, you're great or whatever, but i'm hungry."

"of course you are," mingyu mumbles. he drops a kiss on seokmin's chest and drags himself out of bed.

seokmin whistles as mingyu retrieves sweatpants for both of them. mingyu makes sure to toss seokmin's close to his head. he dodges them, but he huffs and laughs and it's maybe the best sound in the world. mingyu steps into his own and moves back to the bed, hauling seokmin out and kissing him when he's vertical.

so yeah, mingyu doesn't fall in love at first sight, regardless of what jeonghan and soonyoung say. he _does_ tend to crush hard, and his new roommate was no exception. it never amounted to anything serious. usually went away soon enough. not really of concern.

and that's where seokmin _is_ the exception, in every way.

**Author's Note:**

> hi i feel compelled to apologize for the end but also i should stop doing that, so thanks for coming! kudos and comments are very appreciated if you're so inclined. happy february omg can i call this an early birthday present for deekay sure why not.


End file.
